Bailey throws for 6 TDs in Purples’ 44-20 playoff win

Published 6:21 am Saturday, November 23, 2024

by Jeff Nations

Bowling Green senior quarterback Deuce Bailey has had many a stellar passing night during his four-year high school career.

Entering Friday’s Class 5A state quarterfinal game against visiting Louisville Atherton, Bailey had tallied 124 career passing touchdowns. In one lethal half, Bailey boosted that career total considerably with a six-touchdown passing performance to lead the Purples to a 44-20 win.

Bailey’s new all-time touchdown pass total is 130 as he equaled a career-high for a single game he set earlier this season with six TDs passes in a lopsided win against Apollo. Bailey is up to 45 touchdown passes this season, also a career high.

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“Deuce is Deuce — I love him and I’ve loved watching him grow up in our program,” Bowling Green coach Mark Spader said. “I said it before the season, I’m going to enjoy him and what he brings to our team. He’s a fine young man.”

Bailey found his favorite target, junior Trevy Barber, on the first four of those touchdown passes — that combination is now up to 22 TDs through the air.

“It’s the chemistry we’ve got,” Bailey said. “We’ve been together since we’ve been young. He’s like a brother to me. It’s like throwing to myself, I guess I’d say.”

Bailey (15-of-23 passing for 259 yards) got the Purples going with an assist from the special teams unit. After Bowling Green (11-2) opened the game with a quick three-and-out series, Atherton (10-3) fumbled the catch on the ensuing punt and BG recovered at the Ravens’ 22-yard line. Three plays later, Bailey zipped a 22-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Barber to grab the early lead.

Bowling Green defense then forced an Atherton turnover on downs, setting up the offense for a 70-yard drive. Bailey finished it with a pass to Barber at about the 10, and the speedy junior did the rest with a dazzling juke to shake a defender and go the rest of the way for a 25-yard touchdown catch that put his team up 14-0 with 2:57 left in the first quarter.

The Ravens answered two plays later with a 63-yard touchdown run by Michael Curry. It wasn’t a surprise — Curry entered the game with 1,664 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns, making him very much the focal point during practice this week.

“Against our varsity, he zinged us one time and we all saw what he can do,” Spader said. “But for the most part we kept him hemmed up. Guys did their job on defense and coach (Alex) Strode and those guys put together a good game plan and really kind of kept hemmed up.”‘

Bailey kept the Purples humming on offense, answering Atherton’s score with a 10-play, 45-yard scoring drive finished off with a 6-yard touchdown strike to Barber.

Then after forcing a Ravens punt on the next possession, Barber’s 31-yard punt return set his team up at the Atherton 21 — that drive ended with no points when the Ravens’ QuilShaun Baines picked off Bailey’s pass in the end zone — the lone negative play of the game for the Purples’ star QB.

No matter, on BG’s next drive Bailey went right back to Barber with a deep throw that seemed to long — until Barber found another gear and caught up to the ball for a 44-yard touchdown catch that put his team up 28-6 with 2:25 left in the first half.

“Man, he’s a ballhawk,” Bailey said. “He goes and gets everything out of the air. We practice that a lot and we’ve just been waiting for it to happen in a game and it finally showed tonight.”

Barber finished with five catches for 95 yards and four touchdowns.

Bowling Green’s Grayson Newman broke up the Bailey-to-Barber stranglehold on the scoring by blocking a punt out of the back of the end zone with 1:55 left in the half, forcing the Ravens to kick off. In two plays, Bailey covered 50 yards to cap a lightning-fast scoring drive with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jaxen Smith.

The Purples still weren’t done — one play later, Ethan Warder intercepted QuaShawn Thompson’s pass and returned it about 20 yards to the Ravens’ 25. One play after that, Bailey hit Smith again on a 25-yard touchdown strike to push the score to 44-6. Smith tallied three catches for 85 yards and a pair of scores.

Atherton did do some damage against the Purples’ reserves in the second half with the KHSAA-mandated running clock in effect. Aiden Wilson ran for a 23-yard touchdown Curry (207 rushing yards) broke loose for a 79-yard touchdown run.

Now it’s on to the state semifinals and a rematch with cross-town rival South Warren. The Spartans, who will host that playoff game on Nov. 29, claimed a 28-24 win in the regular-season matchup on Oct. 18 at Bowling Green.

“That’s what I’ve battled all week, is focusing us on Atherton and not South Warren because everybody kept saying it was inevitable,” Spader said. “But Boyle County goes down tonight, Manual’s at home, Male’s at home — it’s high school football and it’s just a week at a time. And now Purple Nation will be talking about South Warren, but that’s who we actually play. They beat us earlier in the year and I can’t imagine we’re not going to have a focused group trying to win the right to go to the state championship.”

AHS 6 0 0 14 — 20

BGHS 14 30 0 0 — 44

First quarter

BGHS — Trevy Barber 22 pass from Deuce Bailey (Braden Widener kick), 8:57

BGHS — Barber 25 pass from Bailey (Widener kick), 2:57

AHS — Michael Curry 63 run (kick blocked), 1:50

Second quarter

BGHS — Barber 6 pass from Bailey (Widener kick), 10:05

BGHS — Barber 44 pass from Bailey (Widener kick), 2:25

BGHS — Safety, Grayson Newman blocked punt, 1:55

BGHS — Jaxen Smith 39 pass from Bailey (Widener kick), 1:37

BGHS — Smith 25 pass from Bailey (Widener kick), 1:21

Fourth quarter

AHS — Aiden Wilson 23 run (run failed), 8:42

AHS — Curry 79 run (James Allen Briscoe pass from Deairus Smith), 2:08

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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